Pluto, A “Planet” No More

Reason has finally prevailed at the International Astronomical Union (IAU) being held in Prague, Czech Republic.

After floating the idea earlier that Pluto would retain its planetary status and add its own moon as a planet, with potentially hundreds of tiny “Plutons” floating around the Sun, Pluto has now been demoted to the status of a “dwarf planet” and the tiny bodies reclassified as “small solar system bodies.”

Students of Astronomy can breathe a sigh of relief that they have only eight â€œclassicalâ€ planets in the solar system to memorize now: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.

We’ll always have a fond place for Pluto in our hearts, but there is once more order in the Solar System.